Correspondence

Aberystwyth University has a statutory duty to comply with eleven standards relating to correspondence with the public, students and staff. These standards give members of the public, students and staff the right to choose whether to use Welsh when corresponding with the University.

The main principles to remember is to send correspondence in Welsh/bilingually when

(a) corresponding with a group of people,

(b) responding to correspondence received in Welsh,

(c) initiating correspondence where there is no record of the recipient's choice of language.

These requirements apply to all University staff or any third party providing a service on behalf of the University.

The requirements of the standards do not apply to correspondence relating to the content of academic courses, to research or to correspondence sent to recipients outside Wales.

Correspondence to Students

Correspondence to a group of students must be bilingual.
You must respond to correspondence from students in the language it’s received (e.g. in Welsh, English or bilingually). Do not send a reply in English to correspondence received in Welsh.
In terms of correspondence with individual students, there is a record of students' language choice on the AStRA database and on each student's student record under 'Personal Details (studentrecord.aber.ac.uk). Please note that correspondence relating to academic content, e.g. the content of a particular module, does not need to be bilingual/Welsh unless the module is Welsh-medium or bilingual.
Where the recipient's language preference record is unknown (e.g. prospective students / students / public) the initial correspondence should be sent bilingually.

Correspondence to Staff

Correspondence to a group of staff (e.g. email from a Service to staff, emails to all staff, email from a Heads to their department) must be bilingual in accordance with the University’s Internal Use of Welsh Policy
In terms of corresponding with individual staff, staff should indicate their preferred language on Aber People – Guidelines can be found here. Staff will then receive correspondence relating to their employment (e.g. from Human Resources) in their chosen language. Where the language choice of an individual recipient (member of staff) is known it is good practice to send the correspondence in that language if possible.
Staff can correspond in Welsh/English with University services (e.g. Human Resources, Information Services) as per their preference.
To facilitate the use of Welsh internally staff can now include a MailTip note on their Outlook profiles to indicate that they speak Welsh or speak some Welsh. This will allow other internal staff to see if the recipient speaks Welsh before emailing. Further information on how to add the MailTip below to your Staff Outlook profile can be found via Information Services (FAQ).

“Rwy’n siarad Cymraeg / I speak Welsh”
(or)
“Rwy’n siarad rhywfaint o Gymraeg / I speak some Welsh”

Correspondence to the Public

Correspondence to a group of people (the public, in Wales) must be bilingual.
You must respond in Welsh to correspondence received in Welsh. Do not send a reply in English to correspondence received in Welsh.
Where the recipient's language preference is unknown the initial correspondence to recipients in Wales should be sent bilingually.
The requirements of the Welsh Language Standards (correspondence) do not apply to research (e.g. correspondence between academic staff at different institutions).

Treating the Welsh language no less favourably

We must ensure that the Welsh version of the correspondence is not treated less favourably, which means ensuring that:

the Welsh appears on the left (or above) in a bilingual message. This can be done by formatting the message in a 2-column table.
The format is the same in the Welsh message as the English message.
Any hyperlinks in the Welsh version refer to Welsh web pages or publications (unless the page/document is only available in English e.g. an external webpage).
That the subject of the email message is bilingual.

Out of Office Messages

Out of office messages from University Staff and Services/Departments should be bilingual with the Welsh message first. Examples of automatic responses can be found on the Tripnotes webpage.

Statements

In accordance with the requirements of the Welsh Language Standards, the University must state that we welcome correspondence in Welsh and that correspondence in Welsh will not lead to delays. The statement below is automatically included on all external messages from university staff email accounts and also on the University's official header letter.

Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg. Cewch ateb Cymraeg i bob gohebiaeth Gymraeg ac ateb Saesneg i bob gohebiaeth Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

We welcome correspondence in Welsh and English. Correspondence received in Welsh will be answered in Welsh and correspondence in English will be answered in English. Corresponding in Welsh will not involve any delay.

You should ensure that automatic messages from Services and Departments also include the above message. Staff may also include the above message in their email signature so that the message appears in internal correspondence.

Email Signatures

University staff email signatures must be bilingual.

There is a resource on the website which produces a bilingual signature in the University's corporate branding. For example:

Sending Correspondence for Translation

Correspondence can be sent to the Centre for Welsh Language Services’ Translation team.

See details on how to request a translation at https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/cgg/translation-and-support/applying-for-translations/

If the translation is needed urgently, please state in the comments and indicate a deadline.